Look up ‘infinite’ in the Thesaurus and these are the synonyms:
- Never-ending
- Endless
- Countless
- Unlimited
- Inestimable
- Immeasurable
- Vast
- Unbounded
- Boundless
- Very great
- Extreme
- Great
- Immense
- Large
- Huge
These are some of my favorites: Never-ending, UNLIMITED, Immeasurable, Extreme and Immense.
Want to talk about immeasurable, extreme and immense? Have you looked at space lately? Have you gazed at the stars and been in awe? Have you researched or refreshed your memory on the VAST EXPANSE of the universe? Do you remember what a light year is? Ummm…do you realize how small we are?
My brother, Ben, has been taking an astronomy class this semester. He has been required to do star gazing, papers on the moon, visit planetariums, draw scales, etc. On one of his trips to the planetarium the whole family went along. Outside the planetarium in Boulder, Colorado they have a scale of the sun and planets. The sun, on this scale, was about the size of an average grapefruit. From the sun there were posts set up, again to scale, for each of the planets. The posts showed the equivalent sizes of each planet having the sun the size of a grapefruit. I do not want to bore you, but the first planet, Mercury, was about 15 feet away. Earth, being the third planet, was about 30 feet from the sun. When you rubbed your finger over the size of Earth, the sun being grapefruit sized, it was comparable to the head of a pen. Think about it. Head of pen earth. Grapefruit sun.
Taking it one step further, do you realize that our sun is an “average” star? There are stars in the KNOWN universe that are thousands, yes, thousands of times larger than our sun. The neighborhood we live in, The Milky Way, it too is an average galaxy. We are approximately 90,000 light-years across. We are 3,000 light-years think. The ratio of width to thickness is about the same as a CD. (See here)
To refresh your memory, a light year is: unit of distance in astronomy: a unit of distance in astronomy equal to the distance that light travels in a vacuum in one mean solar year, approximately 9.46 trillion km (5.88 trillion mi) It takes light from the sun 8 minutes to reach the earth, which is 93 million miles from the sun. Do you understand that? 5.88 trillion miles in one year. The Milky Way- ONE AVERAGE GALAXY- is 90,000 light-years across! This means that our galaxy is 529,200 trillion miles across and 17,640 trillion miles deep.
Take a look at your home:
One galaxy. One planet. One very small planet called Earth. One God. One God who spoke the world, the galaxies, the solar systems and the universe into existence. Can you imagine or understand the power? God spoke and THAT PICTURE appeared along with millions of other galaxies we have yet to discover.
And I still worry. I still complain. I still feel weak. There is no reason, really for:
"15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. " Colossians 1:15- 20
And one of my favorites:
"18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."
He has power to create a vast universe. He has power to raise Christ from the dead. He gives me that power because I believe. He loves me, tiny me on this planet called Earth. Tiny Jaclyn with even tinier problems and worries. He calls me friend. He redeemed my life from the pit. He loves me!!!
So, the days that I feel like worrying or the days I think too highly of myself I look at space. Then I remember how small I am, how small my problems are and how much I can trust God. I believe in the One who is Creator over all!!!
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